Patterson Prepares for 19th State of the County

Release Date: 1/30/2013

Contact: Bill Mullan, Media and Communications Officer

Contact Phone: 248-858-1048

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​Pontiac, Michigan -- Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson is putting the finishing touches on his 19th State of the County speech. He will deliver it Thursday, Feb. 7, at 7 p.m. in the Seligman Family Performing Arts Center at Detroit Country Day School in Beverly Hills. Patterson's 2013 address will focus on positive economic signs for Oakland County residents and businesses; and continued innovation by his administration in the areas of job attraction, government technology, quality of life, and budget.

"There is a lot of great news to share," Patterson said. "It never ceases to amaze me how my staff and county employees rise to the challenge of innovating every year to make Oakland County the best in the nation."

Patterson will be introduced by the winner of his 2013 Elite 40 Under 40 competition. The winner will be announced as the State of the County program gets underway. The three finalists are Ajay Chawla, 37, of Troy, strategic account director at SourceHOV; Erica Coulston, 34, of Bloomfield Hills, president of Walk The Line to SCI Recovery, Inc.; and Ziad Kassab, 29, of Oakland Township, vice president of Guardian Angel Home Health Care. An online vote to determine the winner at AdvantageOakland.com concludes Friday.

More than 500 individuals are expected to attend the invitation-only event. However, Oakland County residents and others will have a variety of ways to access the speech. It will be broadcast live on WDET-FM (101.9). In addition, West Bloomfield's Civic Center TV will record Patterson's address and distribute it to a variety of Oakland County cable stations for playback at future dates.

On the Internet, Civic Center TV will live stream the speech at CivicCenterTV.com; highlights will be tweeted live via Patterson's Twitter address, @brookspatterson; the county will record and post the speech on its "Oakland County, Michigan" YouTube channel; and a printable copy of the speech will be available at OakGov.com/exec - just click on the "speeches" link.

For media planning only:

Media who wish to attend the State of the County address are asked to RSVP to Cheryl Everhart at 248-858-5452 or everhartc@oakgov.com by noon Wednesday, Feb. 6. The on-site contact the evening of the speech will be Bill Mullan. His cell number is 248-202-9668.

Those who wish to obtain embed codes for the live stream of the speech may contact Chris Milia of Civic Center TV at 248-425-9222. Those who carry the live stream must credit Civic Center TV.

An audio multbox feed will be provided to broadcast media. Wireless Internet is available in the auditorium for reporters working with laptops.

Detroit Country Day is located at 22305 W. 13 Mile Road just west of Lahser Road in Beverly Hills.